Team match-ups. Who could the Raps own this season.

Looks like the Raps play the Lakers twice this season.

Obviously, it's not a fair match-up. However, what I'd like to see is;
1. JV push Dwight around,
2. Bargs out crazy Worldpeace some,
3. LK grap Pau's nuts and really undo his game,
4. K. Lowry slice to the net for over 30pts and
5. Jose stick a 3 pointer over Kobe for a win. (ok, it's nice to dream)

My question is, what teams do the Raps stack up well against? Are there some top teams that the Raps could own this season?

Teams that don't have a guy to guard Bargniani will have a hard time against Toronto. Gotta love having a 7 foot three point shooter than can post up AND drive to the basket from the outside. For instance, the Lakers could put Pau Gasol on Andrea, but Andrea could take advantage of Pau's lack of lateral quicks. Or they could put World Peace, who Andrea could expose down low with the baby hook or his unstoppable fadeaway from 10-15 feet. Of course, this is just an example, im not saying the Raptors will own the Lakers. Just saying that teams will need someone to step up and guard Bargiani to beat the Raptors

Teams that don't have a guy to guard Bargniani will have a hard time against Toronto. Gotta love having a 7 foot three point shooter than can post up AND drive to the basket from the outside. For instance, the Lakers could put Pau Gasol on Andrea, but Andrea could take advantage of Pau's lack of lateral quicks. Or they could put World Peace, who Andrea could expose down low with the baby hook or his unstoppable fadeaway from 10-15 feet. Of course, this is just an example, im not saying the Raptors will own the Lakers. Just saying that teams will need someone to step up and guard Bargiani to beat the Raptors

I think we beat them both times just because Nash can't guard Lowry and Bargnani will put Dwight/Gasol in foul trouble. Putting Bargnani at the 5 will force Dwight to be pulled from underneath the basket and give room for easy cuts by DeRozan. Plus they arn't very deep so if either big gets in foul trouble we have a very good chance of winning the game. I also think Casey's zone defence will cause many problems for them also.

I think we beat them both times just because Nash can't guard Lowry and Bargnani will put Dwight/Gasol in foul trouble. Putting Bargnani at the 5 will force Dwight to be pulled from underneath the basket and give room for easy cuts by DeRozan. Plus they arn't very deep so if either big gets in foul trouble we have a very good chance of winning the game. I also think Casey's zone defence will cause many problems for them also.

Bargnani playing the 5 would not mean Howard would have to guard him. They would still play Gasol on him. The Raps have had hard times stopping Howard in the past, and I think it becomes even harder when he has a really talented team around it. Jonas has played some really poor pick n' roll defense in the olympics, and I think Nash and Howard would be able to exploit him. We might be able to steal 1 game, and I think that is being optimistic.

Casey threw some good defense at them last year. I think one game the Lakers put up 35 points in the first quarter, but then were shut down the rest of the game, so who knows. I want to see the Raps play defense against some of the really top tier teams. It is always fun to see what Casey tries to throw at them. With some defensive talent to work with, it is going to be fun to watch next year.

Oh an to adress the thread, I think the team the Raps will "own" this year will be the Knicks. Casey shut them down last year, and they had one of their worst fg% versus the Raps. We have improved while they have not.

We owned them in the offseason by taking away Fields and Nash, and I think we will win the series against them this year in the regular season.

Bargnani playing the 5 would not mean Howard would have to guard him. They would still play Gasol on him. The Raps have had hard times stopping Howard in the past, and I think it becomes even harder when he has a really talented team around it. Jonas has played some really poor pick n' roll defense in the olympics, and I think Nash and Howard would be able to exploit him. We might be able to steal 1 game, and I think that is being optimistic.

Casey threw some good defense at them last year. I think one game the Lakers put up 35 points in the first quarter, but then were shut down the rest of the game, so who knows. I want to see the Raps play defense against some of the really top tier teams. It is always fun to see what Casey tries to throw at them. With some defensive talent to work with, it is going to be fun to watch next year.

His team is more talented, but much less shooters on the perimeter. This means the zone defence will be that much more effective on them. Plus there are times where Dwight must guard Bargnani such as when he is at the 5 and Kleiza is at the 4. They certainly won't put him on Kleiza. To the point about pick n' roll and Jonas, I don't see him getting put on Dwight in those situations. We would most likely be putting Amir to guard Dwight when they Lakers go pick n' roll heavy. Also I think Lowry puts a lot of pressure on Dwight to help Nash and therefor we can kick it out to our shooters for open shots. I really think we match up well on both ends of the floor against them, but I do agree with your point that at times Dwight will abuse our 5's. I just think there are ways that as a TEAM the Raps can put Dwight in trouble. If all else fails we can just foul him lol.

The two teams I hope we can stick it to are Boston and Chicago. I like to listen to their announcers when I watch the Raps and would love to hear them eat humble pie as we sweep the series. I'm tired of listening to them throw out their Raptor put downs and gloat about their over-rated teams.

apart from Bynum i think we matchup very well against the Sixers, especially with Thaddeus Young or Spencer Hawes guarding Barg at the 4. I also think DeRozan can do better against someone like evan Turner or Richardson

I believe we owned Clevland last year and I expect we will do so again. For some reason Charlotte had our number last year and I expect that to change this season. For the first time in a long time I expect us to match up well against Atlanta.